


Rock Lee Tumblr Ficlets

by thejammys



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Single Dad! Lee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23228053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejammys/pseuds/thejammys
Summary: What Sound Does Metal Make? (G) - baby Metal plays a baby gameLee’s Dad (G) - blood does not a father makeA Happy Dream (G) - AU modern!verse Gai is Lee’s dad.Happy Mother’s Day, Gai-sensei! (G) - Gai's kids love him
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	1. What Sound Does Metal Make?

**Author's Note:**

> I had a rule that any work with less than 1,500 words got posted under a cut on tumblr rather than a new work on AO3. However! I'm not sure how long I'll hold onto my tumblr account. I don't want to lose the writing, nor do I want to make lots of different fics so they're all going here.
> 
> :3

“Meeeeeeee.”

“ _Moooooooo_.”

"Maaaaaaaa.”

“ _Mooooooooo_ ,” Lee tried again, pointing to a picture in the book he was reading, and trying his best not to crack and smile.

But Metal knew what he was doing. He knew what sound a cow made, but the name of his game was to make his daddy laugh.

The one-year-old’s small, chubby face split into a wide grin as he looked up into the large, dark eyes he’d inherited.

“Mowowowow,” Metal babbled, patting his dad’s thighs on each ‘ow’ punctuation.  
  
Lee cracked.

He laughed and pulled his knees into his chest so his baby was raised a bit from where he’d been comfortably resting on Lee’s lap. Two green-clad arms cocooned the toddler and Lee tucked his face into his son’s neck as he said, “Ahhh! You silly little boy!”

Metal’s laugh was one of Lee’s favorite sounds in the world., it positively made him giddy with joy, and Metal thought this was _extremely_ funny.

Tiny eyes slipped shut as a delighted giggle bubbled out of Metal’s tiny chest. The green cactus covering his round, baby tummy bounced as the pitch rise and fell.

Lee wanted to keep hearing the sound, so he kept his mouth where it was and blew a raspberry as he squeezed his son tight.

Tiny limbs tried and failed to wiggle away from the tickles as loving arms held him even closer.

“Moooooooo!” Lee spoke against the same sensitive skin.

Metal waited a beat and turned his head as best he could so he could look at his dad, then resumed his happy swatting and retorted with, “Mowowowowow!”

That earned another raspberry.

A happy, baby shriek rang through the living room, followed by sweet, joyous, youthful laughter that made Lee’s heart sing.

Lee finally gave his son’s neck mercy and moved his lips to kiss the top of Metal’s head.

“You are a funny boy, you know that?”

“Mowowowowow,” Metal agreed through an expectant grin.

Lee’s smile matched his son’s. “Mowowowow? Is that the sound Metal makes?”

The baby’s mouth was still grinning madly, and he must have expected more tickles because Metal laughed once and shied his face away against his dad’s arm, and then said “Mowowowow,” again when nothing happened.

“Mowowowowow,” Lee repeated, cupping his lips over his teeth and nomming on his son’s cheek as he spoke this baby language.  
  
He shifted Metal in his arms as his baby laughed. He turned his son so their chests were pressed together and Lee could kiss his nose.

“You are just the cutest thing!” he cried.

This came dangerously close to narcissism, on Lee’s part, because Metal looked so extraordinarily like his father.

Lee didn’t have any photos of himself as a baby, but when he looked down at the small thing in his arms he was certain this is what they would show.

The baby babbled something and dropped his head so he could tuck his face into his dad’s neck.

Lee kissed the top of that soft, black hair one more time and kept his arms wrapped securely around their package as he stood up.

It was time to make dinner, and since Metal’s favorite place to be was close to his dad, Lee strapped on his makeshift baby harness he made from a spare set of tights, and wrapped his son up securely against his chest so his arms were free to make food.

Once, when he and Ino arranged a play date for their children, she chided him for not investing in a stroller, or at least a carrier that looked less dorky.

“Why do you wear that?” she had asked.

“Free baby cuddles!” Lee had chirped back, demonstrating by hugging his son who was already conveniently in position.

By the next play date, she was wearing one too (although her’s wasn’t made of stylish green tights).

As he stood over the stove, tending to the vegetables, Metal continued to babble to him about every little thing that entered his baby mind.

It was a lot of “bla dee bo bo”, but Lee found it fascinating.

He unstrapped his son when it was time to eat, placing him in another makeshift high chair he’d fashioned out of a regular chair and the lid to a plastic tub.

Babies were expensive and Lee was a single parent - their home was full of Lee’s attempts at “do it yourself’ budget parenting.

Metal certainly didn’t mind.

The baby couldn’t really use a spoon yet, but he could pick up the chunks of soft, seasoned potatoes and smoosh them into his mouth as he continued his story.  
  
It was downright riveting.

Lee changed out of his tights before bath time, opting for a short sleeved shirt since his arms usually got wet from their water playing.

Metal liked to play with the rubber animals his grandpa got him. Lee would pick them up, imitate the noise of whatever animal he was holding, and have them talk to his son.

But tonight, Metal took over his dad’s job and decided that every animal said "Mowowowow.”

It wouldn’t have been such a fun game if his dad didn’t keep laughing, but Lee was, in many ways, also a child at heart.

The boys played this animal game until Metal started yawning.

Lee dried him off and put him in clean pajamas he put in front of the heater before the bath.

Once his son was warm and clothed, Lee tucked him against his chest once more and slowly walked around their living room as his baby relaxed for bed time. After those sweet eyes slipped shut once more, Lee sat down and leaned back as he gently rubbed his son’s back.

The books said Metal should be falling asleep in his crib, not in his dad’s arms.  
But the books also didn’t recognize the functionality of exercise tights in baby rearing - so the books didn’t know everything.

Metal’s breathing slowed and evened out, and right when Lee thought his son might be asleep, he heard a tiny, “Mowowow.”

Lee smiled and lightly kissed the top of his son’s head once more.

“Mowowow,” he agreed.


	2. Lee’s Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> blood does not a father make

Kakashi doesn’t want to give Lee this news.

Yesterday, things were great, and then last night a most unwelcome visitor appeared in Konoha. He’d never met the man before, maybe he was alright, but he was claiming to be something Kakashi knew he wasn’t, whether he had the DNA to back it up or not.

“Lee, we found your father.”  
  
Lee blinks in confusion. “Gai sensei? Was he lost?”

When Kakashi doesn’t respond in .02 seconds, it gives Lee’s brain enough time to jump to purely logical conclusions.  
  
“Is he okay?!” Lee shrieks, disrupting the birds outside.  
  
Kakashi doesn’t reply immediately. He just looks at Lee’s panicked face with an expression Lee doesn’t understand.

He wonders if it’s a kindness or a cruelty to tell Gai that Lee’s first thought was of him and his well-being. Perhaps he shouldn’t have phrased it as ‘found’, since that made it look like the search came from his end.

It certainly had not.

“Gai is fine,” he finally answers after a wait long enough to take years off of Lee’s young life.  
  
Lee lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and clutches his heart.  
  
“Thank goodness! That was not very nice of you to scare me like that,” Lee admonishes.  
  
Kakashi still has the same expression. It’s not quite sadness, and it’s not admiration…it’s -  
  
Pity.  
  
“Your biological father.”  
  
Lee isn’t sure what he just heard, and his body language demonstrates this.  
  
He stares at Kakashi with his resting face frown in place and an almost blank look in his eyes.  
  
When Lee doesn’t say anything, Kakashi opens his mouth to continue but is immediately interrupted.  
  
“Forgive me, Kakashi sensei, I think I drifted off. Could you please repeat yourself?”  
  
Kakashi doesn’t want to repeat himself. This is one of the most uncomfortable things he’s had to do as Hokage.  
  
“A man came here last night looking for you. He had your birth certificate and he - he looks like you.”  
  
Lee’s expression does not change.  
  
“What?” is all he says.  
  
Kakashi frowns. “Lee your father is here.”  
  
Lee continues to stare at him, but Kakashi can see his shoulders are starting to move as his breathing gets heavier.  
  
“He wants to meet you.”  
  
There’s a tremble in Lee’s lower lip and the unpleasantness in his heart he felt for Gai, Kakashi now feels for the kid.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“Did he say why? Why now? Why -”  
  
Lee cuts himself off and closes his mouth tightly.  
  
Kakashi shakes his head and considers the boy in front of him. “He just said he wants to meet you, but I’ll give you some time to think about it.”

It’s a dismissal, since he can see Lee starting to shake - it would probably do that young fool good to go indulge in his sensei’s insane idea of training right now.

Lee nods at him once and takes in a sharp breath Kakashi knows is helping to hold back tears.

“Thank you, Kakashi sensei.”

After he hears the door shut, Kakashi picks up one of his books.

He’s fairly confident he knows what’s going to happen, but the idea that Gai could be left so heartbroken distracts him.

He does not read.

–  
  
Most people become someone’s child when they’re born.  
  
Lee thinks they’re very lucky.  
  
He grew up in an orphanage. The two things that stand out to him the most from his childhood are bullying and depression.  
  
His life began when he was twelve and placed on Maito Gai’s team.  
  
That was when he became somebody’s child.  
  
That was when he knew love.

He already knows what he’s going to do and say to this man. There’s no need to think about it.

So he trains as usual.

–  
  
Gai comes home and sees Lee doing one handed handstand dips.  
  
“Excellent form, Lee!” he praises loudly with a delighted grin.  
  
Lee smiles, happy to see him, and pants, “Thank you, sensei!”

He wheels further into the room so the smell of the food on his lap hits Lee’s nose.

“That smells delicious!” Lee exclaims happily, neck straining up so he can try to identify the bag.

Gai holds it up and beams. “Ribs and squash! We can eat as soon as you are finished.”

Lee nods as best he can when he’s upside down. “Yes! Only two hundred more!”

Later, when they’re happily digging into dinner, Gai tries to study Lee’s face without his student noticing. He hasn’t seen Lee all day, but he knows Kakashi gave him the news.

He doesn’t want to be the one to bring it up. He’s certain Lee will be able to see how much the situation hurts him, and he doesn’t want to end up unintentionally manipulating Lee into making a decision about how to accept this man into his life.

But subtlety is not Gai’s strong point, and Lee catches him scrutinizing when his sensei’s face is only inches away from his own and his eyes are narrowed.

“Gai sensei? Are you alright? Is there something on my face?” Lee asks, taking his napkin and wiping unnecessarily.

Gai frowns.

He doesn’t want to be the one to bring it up, no, but this not talking about it is also killing him.

“I heard about the town’s visitor,” he says after looking down at his plate so Lee can’t see his eyes.  
  
“Yes,’ is all Lee says, but he gets quiet and looks away with pursed lips.

Gai waits a moment, just one, to see if Lee will continue, and then presses on.

“When are you going to meet him?” he asks in what he hopes is a calm voice. ‘ _And can I come with you?’_ he thinks.

Lee picks up his fork and remains terse. “I am not going to.”

The warmth that spreads through Gai’s heart makes him just as guilty as it does happy. He shouldn’t rejoice for Lee saying this, but he does.  
  
He tries to keep his voice calm as he asks, “Lee, are you sure you don’t want to meet him? He won’t be welcome in the village again.”

That was the only courtesy Kakashi was rightly able to offer him.  
  
“I’m sure,’ Lee says.  
  
It kills Gai to fight this, but for Lee’s sake he won’t be selfish.  
  
“But Lee I just don’t want you to regret it - he’s your father-”  
  
“He’s not my father,” Lee says quickly, looking at Gai with serious eyes.  
  
Gai takes in a sharp breath, and when he can finally exhale there are tears rolling down his cheeks.  
  
“I already have a dad,” Lee continues in a much softer voice.

He did his job, he brought it up, he pressed to make sure he wasn’t being selfish, but he wasn’t going to fight what he desperately wanted to hear.

The tense air is lifted when he lets out a massive sob and lurches forward to pull Lee into his chest.

“Lee! My boy!” he cries with new confidence and old love.

“Sensei!” Lee sobs back, clutching him just as tightly.

It’s a long time before they relax their holds and dry their eyes.

That night, when it’s time for bed, Gai kisses Lee’s forehead and tells him he loves him, just as he does every night, but tonight he adds, “Son.”

He doubts Lee will ever be able to call him anything other than sensei, but just for tonight Lee says, “Goodnight, dad. I love you too!”

It’s the happiest Gai ever remembers feeling.

–

The next day, Gai wheels into Kakashi’s office with a mad grin and a whistle.

Kakashi doesn’t need to ask what happened, but he does look up at his friend with a knowing smile that goes unseen under his mask.

“I told you,” he says to the green fool who’s still humming.

Gai just laughs.


	3. A Happy Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU modern!verse Gai is Lee’s dad.

Tonight, Maito Gai had a terrible dream.

He’d dreamed his son got hurt.

That was the worst kind of dream: _anything_ bad happening to his precious child.

In the dream, he had seen Lee as a ninja, dressed in a green jumpsuit that made him look like a kung-fu green bean. Gai recognized that he was Lee’s teacher, and they were in some sort of test, and he recalled being proud of Lee’s fighting progress that he’d developed in less than two years.

It was a strange thing, but Gai was certain he’d only known Lee for that small amount of time.

Then the fight turned horrible and he watched another fighter mangle his student.

Gai woke up with very real tears on his face.

He wiped them away and tried to push away the memory of Lee’s scream, still echoing in his ear.

‘ _It wasn’t real. It was just a dream. Lee is safe and happy and asleep in his bed just down the hall.’_

…but why not just check and be sure.

Gai opened the door to his child’s room and padded across the carpet to the tiny bed in the corner where his six-year-old was sleeping peacefully.

He put his hands on his son’s tiny feet, to get his bearing on where they were so they didn’t accidentally get squished, and then sat down at the end of Lee’s bed.

“Daddy?” a tiny, sleepy voice croaked.

Gai winced. He hadn’t meant to wake Lee up. He squeezed his son’s small foot apologetically and whispered, “It’s just me, Lee.”

Two tiny fists rubbed sleepy eyes and Lee let out a big yawn. “Is it time for school?”

“No, sweet boy, go back to sleep. I’m sorry for waking you,” Gai murmured back as he ran a soothing hand up and down Lee’s shin - the same one he saw bleeding in the dream.

“What’s wrong, daddy?” Lee asked, as he wiggled and stretched.

Gai kept rubbing and smiled at his son. “Nothing is wrong, Lee. I just wanted to check on you.”

His son frowned in the darkness and then sat up. “Daddy, you look sad.”

Gai leaned forward and gripped Lee’s armpits so he could scoop him up and pull him onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around his baby and squeezed him tight against his chest. Lee was still warm with sleep, it made him extra cuddly.

“The truth is, Lee, I had a bad dream.”

Lee shifted in his arms so he could turn his face to the side and speak.

“What did you dream?”

Telling Lee that his mind supplied a vision of sand crushing every bone in Lee’s arm and leg and twisting so badly that his clothes were soaked with blood wasn’t the sort of thing a dad ought to do to his sleepy child.

But there was another upsetting part.

“I dreamed that I didn’t meet you until you were twelve years old,” Gai answered, tucking his face into his son’s soft hair and planting a kiss there.

“But I’m only six!” Lee protested.

“Yes, you are. But in my dream, you were twelve, and I didn’t know you when you were six,” Gai continued, keeping his face in position to drop more kisses.

“But you were my dad, right?”

Gai frowned and tried to remember how he had felt about Lee in the dream. He remembered Lee as his student… but it was more than that.

“Yes, I was still your dad. But I think in this dream, I adopted you, and we lost many precious years of your babyhood together.”

Lee wiggled so he could drape himself more comfortably, now that he was using his dad as a pillow and mattress, and let out a happy sigh once he was content. “Daddy, that’s a happy dream.”

Gai leaned back to look at his son’s face and saw that Lee’s eyes were shut.

“What do you mean, Lee?”

“Your dream said you’re my dad no matter what,” Lee answered.

It gave Gai pause, and though his impulse was to correct his son and tell him that he wouldn’t give up having raised Lee from birth for anything, he realized his baby had a point.

In every lifetime, in every universe, no matter what the circumstances were, Lee was his son.

Bless his sweet youthful heart for finding something lovely in a dream that had given Gai so much cardiac distress.

He kissed his son’s head again and smiled. “You’re right, Lee. I’m your dad no matter what.”

“Good,” was his son’s simple, sleepy reply.

After a few minutes of holding him, Gai heard Lee’s breathing even out again as he drifted back off to sleep.

It was a school night, so Gai ought to tuck him back in and let him rest, but he couldn’t bring himself to let Lee out of his arms. So he stayed, and fell back asleep sitting up against the wall in his son’s tiny bed.

Perhaps it was just the magic of having Lee so close to him, but in his second dream of the night, he returned to that world and watched Lee grow up strong and healthy.

And he knew, without a second of thought this time, that Lee was his son.


	4. Happy Mother’s Day, Gai-sensei!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gai's kids love him

_Minced celery…_

What an elusive vegetable!

Lee had never heard of it before, but it featured among the list of ingredients he’d come to the market to get for dinner tonight.

One of his sensei’s favorite things to eat was a hearty, slow-cooked pot roast. Normally, such a dish required a prep time that neither Lee nor his sensei were able to commit to. Training took up most of the day!

But today, Lee was not alone in his wish to prepare a special meal for a beloved adult. The store was filled with other young men and women, each piling goods into their baskets with the intent of cooking something delicious and memorable. The only difference between them and Lee was that he had a big cookbook in his hands. He’d sat down this morning, full of determination to get the recipe exactly right and aqcuire all the best ingredients, but he wound up losing the list he’d made and reasoned the book was a wise safety net.

“Lee?”

The green bean looked up and smiled brightly when he saw his teammate; a fellow bean.

“Neji!”

“You cook?” Neji asked in what others might have perceived as a snarky tone, but Lee was in too good of a mood to read as anything other then genuine interest.

“Of course, it is an important skill! And tonight I am going to make something special for Gai-sensei.”

Neji frowned and took the cookbook out of Lee’s hands. It wasn’t polite to grab things, but Lee maintained his cheery demeanor.

“You can’t cook this, Lee,” Neji said, running his eyes over the instructions.

Happiness abandoned. Lee puffed up like a small green bird. “Of course I can! It’s for Gai-sensei! I just need guts and hard work and to try my best and-”

“You don’t have an oven,” Neji interrupted.

Lee closed his mouth.

For the first time ever, Neji was right – and it was terrible.

“We’ll have to ask Tenten if we can use hers,” Neji said, returning the cookbook to Lee’s indignant hands.

_Neji said ‘we’._

“Neji! Lee!” sang the voice of the precise girl they needed to speak to.

The boys looked up and saw Tenten and Naruto walking toward them, which might be considered unusual for those two but for the purposes of this story was completely normal.

“What are you two doing?” Tenten asked, peering into Lee’s basket.

“We’re making a special dinner for Gai-sensei!”

Naruto reached in to the basket and moved items around so he could see everything. “Is it his birthday?”

“Nope!” Lee chirped back.

“What then – ah! Wait for mother’s day?” Naruto asked.

“Yes!”

Naruto narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “But bushy-brow sensei isn’t your mother-”

“He’s my everything!” Lee screamed back.

Naruto crept backwards and raised his hands in defense. “Ok, ok – whatever you say… you know, if you’ve got any leftovers I would be more than happy to-”

Neji clasped a hand over Lee’s mouth and shooed Naruto away before more screaming could erupt.

“Tenten, we need to use your oven to cook this,” Neji said. Such a statement really should have been phrased as a question, and Tenten gave him a frown indicating so.

“Why don’t you just use sensei’s oven?”

“It’s a surprise!” Lee answered, dislodging Neji’s hand. “He gives us everything – he deserves to come home to a delicious meal full of nutritional-”

Neji placed his hand back over a mouth that hadn’t paused its speech. “So, can we use your oven?” he asked, opting for politeness this time.

Tenten laughed when Neji grimaced and ripped his hand away to reveal Lee’s tongue sticking out of his mouth.

“Of course, but let’s all make the meal together. After all, you boys are bound to need my help.”

That was very true. So off the three merry beans went!

ooooo

Later that night, Gai opened the door to his apartment and blinked at the sight before him.

His beloved students were all asleep with their heads on his table.

Even Neji!

Before them was a lovely display of food and cutlery set out to look stylish and welcoming.

It made his heart burst with love!

He couldn’t help but cry and silently vow to return this wonderful gesture to his lovely students.

His crying, however, was not silent and the three ninja beans opened their eyes.

“Gai-sensei!”

Lee jumped up and made a panicked noise. “We made you a special dinner – but the food must be cold! Please, sensei, if you can just wait a bit to eat-”

“My Lee!” Gai cried, stepping forward and pulling Lee into a hug. “You three are too much! How did I get to be so lucky!”

This had the potential to go on for quite a while, so Neji and Tenten seized the opportunity to avoid an equally bone-crushing hug, and reheated the food.

Their luck ran out when they placed it back on the table and Gai scooped them up as well.

After Gai released them and loudly exclaimed how touched he was by this gesture, the tiny family sat down to enjoy this special meal.

True, Gai-sensei was not technically their mother, and perhaps some would say this day was not meant for him. But the spirit of the holiday is to honor a special person who loves, nurtures, protects, guides, and inspires their child. Some dads are moms, some senseis are moms, and if a student is _really_ lucky – some senseis are everything.

**Author's Note:**

> I deleted my Naruto twitter account several months ago, but you can still find me on tumblr.


End file.
